Rowlock



Nov. 22', 1927.

C. BJORK ROWLOCK Filed Sept. 10, 1925 [n ven for CARL BJORK WITNESSPatented Nov. 22, 1927.

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CARL storm, or 'wrmvnneroiv canrronnra.

' B wman Application filed September 10,1ea5Q Serial no. 55,498.

An object of this invention is to provide a rowlock that will givegreater freedom of movement of the oar andincrease the ease andconvenience in rowing and to'make provision whereby the oarsman can rowstanding or sitting.

An object is to provide a superior roi lock which can be usedinsculling.

Another object is to makeconvenient provision for allowing oars andoak-locks to be locked to the boat by a single fastening.

Heretofore fishermen and other boatmen likely to ride rough seas or toland or go 'outthrough heavysurf hesitateto use any rowlock, except thethole pin rowlock, as it requires great freedom of cars to avoidswamping the boat in such seas or surf.

An object of this invention is to provide a simple construction andarrangement whereby an oarsman can handle his oar with greater freedomthan heretofore and with out any danger of unshipping his oar and alsowith minimum lost motion and with freedom to adjust the oars toward andfrom the center of the boat to accommodate different modes of rowing; tofeather the car when rowing, and also to insert the oar deepinto thewater when standing up and soulling or rowing.

Another object is to minimize the danger of exerting a leverage tendingto break the rowlock or the socket in the boat gunnel.

The invention includes the simpleoonstruction of the rowlock proper andalso the arrangement and combination of the rowlock and oar. y

Another object of the invention is tominimize wear and tear onthe car,and on the muffle sleeve.

This invention relates to the construction of one-piece rowlocks. I a

I accomplish the objectsofthis invention by constructing a one-piecerowlock comprising a shouldered shank or swivel pin adapted to rest onand revolve in the gunnel of the boat; and an eye coaxial with such pinhaving an elongated orifice formed byacsemicircular base, and asemi-circular arch or top guard of the same radius, andverticalr tholepin-s forming a'guide or slidcway for the car, the space between suchthole pins being equal to the diameter of the semi-circle of the baseand arch and slightly greater than the diameterof the cylindricalportionor muffled shank of the car which is to work in the rowlock.

line m Fi 3.

By this construction and arrangement an oar 1n place in the rowlock,mounted on the gunnel of the boat, can he slid endwise throughtherowlock with as great freedom as through the space betweenordinarytholepins and this is true at any angle at which invention. 7 Figure 1 1saperspective View of a rowlock constructed in accordance with thisinvention, and an ioar in place With a muflle sleeve: and collarthereon; the oar being broken to 1 contract the view.

Fig. 2is anenlarged elevation of the rowlock witha fragmentof the oar inposition for sculling; and afragment of the stern of the boat; dottedlines indicate a horizontal position of the oar.

Fig. 3 is an elevation on line Fig. 2 lookingin the direction of thearrow with the oarin the position shown indottedlines in Fig. 2. Brokenlines indicate that a chain may be inserted through the eye to' securethe rowlook with its oar when the same are L left without an attendant.

Flg. 4 is a vertical section of the rowlock on line a, Fig. Fig; 5 1s ahorizontal cross-section on 1 is the usual'swivel pin constructed in amanner common to some otherrowlocks, and 'with a collar 2,which rests onthegunnel Aboveth-e collar this rowlock is constructed with a'nov-elvertically;elon-- gate oar holding eye or ring comprising an oar rest l,two parallel upright oar guiding sides 5 resemblingtholepins, and abovethe thole pins, a'top guard 6,, said rest, thole pin and top guarclbeing ofone piece with theswivel pm. Y The oar bearing surfaces of therest, the

edges of the base the topguard and the thole pins, are rounded asindicated, in Figs. 4 and 5 to facilitate the movement of-the oar thesubjoineddetailed descripand, to avoid anylikelihood oficrushing,

jammingor wearing the oar or the mufiie sleeve and collar thereon.

The length of the opening 7 in the ring from the rest 4 to the archedguard 6 1s three times the radius of the oar. That is to say, the lengthof the opening of the ring from the center bottom point 8 to the centertop point 9 is one and one-half times the width across the opening fromthole pm to thole pin; so that the oar 10 is given full lateral supportthroughout the entire nossible bodily movement of the oar from hottom totop of the ring. -The parallel intermediate upright sides arev spacedapartthe, distance required to freely accommodate the ear without lostmotion.

The ear which is adapted to be locked bythis novel rowloek is providedwith a leather sleeve 11 and the stop collar 12. The stop collar 12 isof. such diameter that the oar. cannot be withdrawn away from the bladeend 13 and the blade of the ear prevents the oar from beingwithdrawntoward the handle end let and the open space between the oar 10 and thearch 6 is suiiicient to allow a chain or other fastening device, notshown, to be inserted through the eye of the rowloek as indicated at 15in Fig. 3, or through the eyes of more than one rowlock, and such chainmay be fixed to any suitable part of the boat so that when theboatmanwishes to leave the boat unattended he will simply withdraw therowlock and oars, lay the ears in the bottom of the boat andpass thefastening device as the chain or hasp, not shown, above the ear and willthen look such chain, thus securing all of the oars through the rowlockeyes of which the fastening device has been passed.

The vertical elongate character of the eye allows all of the necessarymovement to enable the oarsmanto row in sitting or standing position orto scull the boat with perfect freedom, and this is effected without anylost motion of the ear, and without danger of breaking the eye, byreason of theoar binding against the top and base of said eye.

I claim: I v

.1. A rowlock having an elongated oar holding eye provided witha roundedoar supporting base, a roundedoar holding top guard arch and parallelsides forming vertical oar guiding slides.

. thole pins and a top guard.

E2. rowloek having a. vertically elongated eye provided with uprightparallel A one-piece rowlock having an elongated eye with thole pinparallelsides; and an arched guard-at the top. r

4. rowlock having thole pins forming the sldes of an elongated eye andprovided with a semi-circular base and top, and having a lengthfromcenter bottom to center top of the eye, practically equal to'one andone-halfthe width between the parallel sides of the eye.

5. The combination with an ear having a collar between its handle andblade, of a rowlock having an elon ated eye, the sides greater diameterthan the oar so that it will not pass through the eye, whereby bothrowlock and ear may be fastened when not in use, by a fasteningextending through the space between the oar and the top of the eye.

(3. A rowlock having an eye comprising a curved base, two thole pins anda top arch; the inner faces of the thole pins being tangent to the innerfaces of the base and arch.

7. A rowlock of the swivel pin type havin an eye centrally located onthe pin and provided with two thole pins connected together at bottomand top by semi-circular base and semi-circular arch, the space betweenthe thole pins being slightly greater than the diameter of the mufliedshank of the ear to be used therein and the arches being tangent to theadjacent sides of the thole pins and spaced apart practically threetimes the radius of the semi-circles of said base and arch.

8. rowlock of the swivel pin type having an eye centrally located on thepin and provided with two thole pins connected together at bottom andtop by semi-circular base and semi-circular arch, the space be collarbetween its end and blade; of a rowloclt having a vertically elongatedeye provided with parallel thole portions, spaced apart a distanceslightly greater than the diameter of the ear and a distance less thanthe diameter of the collar, and being in length, practically one andone-half times the radius of the oar, whereby both row-lock and oarmaybe fastened by a fastening extending through the space between the oarand the top of'said eye.

, V 10. In combination with an ear having a blade and a muflied shankprovided with a collar, of an oar-lock of the swivel pin type having aring integrally formed and centrally located with respect to the pin,said ring ains bein sli htl" reater than the diamec I: .Y b

ter of the mufiled shank of the oar to be used therein and the archesbeing tangent to the adjacent sides of the thole pins and spaced apartpractically three times the radius of the semi-circles of said base andtop of the ring.

11. An oar-lock of the swivel pin type having a ring centrally locatedon the pin and provided with parallel intermediate upright tholeportions connected together at bottom and top by a semi-circular baseand a semi-circular arch, the space between the thole portionsbeingslightly greater than the shank of the oar to be used therein andthe arches being tangent to the confronting sides of the thole portionsand spaced apart practically three times the radius of the semi-circlesof said base and arch, the edges of the base, arch and thole portionsbeing i rounded to facilitate the movement of the oar and to permit fulllateral support throughout the entire possible bodily movement of theoar from bottom to top of the rmg.

In testimony whereof, I have hereunto set my hand at Los Angeles,California, this 31st day of August, 1925.

CARL BJORK.

